53. Chapter Fifty-Three
Chapter Fifty-Three
Sun neared while I changed into new clothes that didn’t have vomit on them.
Verin’s forces attacked nearly ten minutes ago, and the whole kingdom was in an uproar.
Mother raised her diamond wall from beneath the ground to protect the people.
But a few soldiers were able to get through.
Likely the work of Verin’s portal jumping daughter.
It was hard hearing the shouting, the metal clashing, and not racing to join the fight.
I had another fight coming.
Nyx knocked on my door.
“It’s time. Your mother saw Verin leave,” she said while entering and I gave myself one final look in the mirror. Still looked like shit and felt like it, too. We were playing a dangerous game and there were many odds where we lost.
“No frowning. Princesses don’t frown.” Nyx stood beside me, dressed in a killer gown with an amethyst crown on her head, looking every ounce the princess she was and had to pretend to be.
“Princesses don’t lie either, but here we are.” Liars, frowners, and deceivers in pretty packages.
People screamed outside the walls and my head dropped.
“Come on,” Nyx said. “The best thing you can do for them right now is survive.”
“I feel like I’m failing them. Running while my people… while everyone suffers. What if my tampering does nothing? He becomes all powerful, and I’m just human with no memories on how to get back?” I asked in a moment of clarity.
There were so many holes in this plan of ours.
“Celestine said to have faith that you’ll win.
I don’t think she’d say that if everything went to shit and you never came back.
That’s not how seers work. They play with words, guide you toward the best outcome, even if you don’t see it.
This is right. I can feel it in my core.
Buying time is the right call for everyone.
” She pulled me in for a hug. “I have faith in you, Sapphira. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be putting my life on the line, and I am. ”
I needed to believe in myself, in this plan.
Celestine’s owl kitten hooted in my head, and then the seer’s voice spoke.
“The destination is not what matters in a hero’s story, only how he or she got there.
When all hope seems lost, the hero battles on, refusing to give up.
You have it in you. You feel it in your very blood that you can do this. ”
For once, I appreciated the voices in my head.
Finally, it was a contributor to the situation.
That random pep talk was needed. It was like what Celestine said about the hero’s journey.
My journey wasn’t over, and even though I didn’t know where I’d end up, I had to keep going.
I was Princess Sapphira, a fighter until I died.
Which could be soon, but maybe not. At least I’d give it my best, right? Which reminded me…
“Before I forget, you’ll need these.” I grabbed the two pieces of jewelry sitting on my nightstand.
Tor’s turquoise bracelet, and Rune’s ring.
“If everyone’s gonna think you’re me, then might as wear my stuff, right?”
Nyx’s throat bobbed as she took in those two very precious, and sentimental gems.
“All right, let’s go while everyone is distracted.”
She hesitantly put the jewelry on while I grabbed the moonstone sword. I didn’t look back as I cautiously raced to the throne room where my parents waited.
Ryka stood next to my mother, and a human woman with brown skin, and black hair, dressed as a human, was on the other side.
Oh, she wasn’t dressed as a human, she was human.
My mother gripped my hand and gestured to the newcomer. “Slight change of plans. We are sending you to the human realm afterwards, keeping you far away from Verin as your body heals. This is Mariam, she will take care of you and bring you home when you are better.”
I trusted her.
The veins in my hand jolted like a current of electricity shot through my blood. That couldn’t be good.
“Are you all right?” Mother asked and I nodded.
I wasn’t, something was happening, but we were here, about to take out my core and then I’d heal with Mariam. No time to question or doubt the plan. My mother wouldn’t hand me over to just anyone. I knew that.
The electric sensations spread into both hands, and I freed myself to shake them out. Even in its poisoned state, my sapphire core was trying to tell me something. That gut feeling was screaming.
“I think Verin’s doing something, so we should move this along.”
I closed my eyes and raised an altar from the palace’s stone floors for Nyx to rest on beneath the skylight.
Even if she wasn’t aware, she’d have a view of the sky while she waited for me.
It was pretty enough but stable. Desmire would cover the top of the stone with onyx, so she’d be completely sealed inside his crystal.
Mother pulled Nyx aside and handed her two vials. “Celestine gave me these. It’s a sedative to induce a coma. You will be alive, but in a sleeplike state until the onyx is opened again. After we give you Sapphira’s core, drink them and rest.
Desmire stepped into my view and tears threatened to appear.
“I’m sorry we didn’t have more time.” I met my father’s gaze.
He looked like me with the same light brown skin and wild brown hair.
His smoky silver eyes were brought to life with the smile on his face.
Little laugh lines creased above his cheeks.
He was tall and broad unlike the man who had raised me.
He was the warrior my mother always loved .
. . her mate. She had drawn the tattoos on his face in a moment of peace between them.
I wanted to believe Rune and I would have ended up better than them. Better than this. She had gone on to marry Verin to protect our lands and sired me with Desmire. He was the father I never got to experience.
“We will. This is not our end. And when you return, my daughter, we will fight together.”
I managed to hold back my tears. My mother touched my shoulder, and I knew our final moment had come.
“I will come back for you,” I promised her.
“You will be a great queen . . . loved and fiercer than I ever could have been. The warrior spirit in you cannot be broken. You will fight, and there will be nothing that can stop you.” She pulled me in for a hug.
Her shoulders shook with emotion in my embrace.
My father wrapped his arms around us, and despite what was to come, I knew all would be okay.
“Mariam will keep you safe from now on. Trust your gut no matter what, and don’t cause too much trouble.” My mother released her grasp around me and stood at the altar where Nyx waited in her purple dress for her final task.
The darkness was coming, and this was the only way.
With my hands clasped in my parents, we released our magic one last time.
They were giving my body a little push to make it through the transition, to help with the pain. I dropped their hands and went for it.
No hesitation. No doubt. I lifted the dagger and shoved the tip into the flesh of my chest. The pain rattled against my sternum, before I inhaled and pulled the blade to the left.